This invention relates to a digital content management system that may be implemented in a mobile station, such as a mobile telephone.
Digital content providers often wish to limit the distribution of they content they provide. In some instances, these limitations may help to preserve the value of the content by restricting the distribution of unlicensed copies. In other cases, these limitations can manage the distribution of proprietary materials, such as software programs developed for use within a particular company. No one scheme of content management has been found to be appropriate in all circumstances. Mobile telephones, with their portability and connectivity, pose particular challenges for managing the distribution of content. As a result, it is desirable to develop a system content management system particularly geared toward use with mobile stations, such as mobile telephones.
Digital content can be supplied to mobile stations through a process known as provisioning. Mobile communications service providers (such as providers of mobile telephone service) can use provisioning to supply content—including applications and user profile information—to a user's mobile station. “Over-the-air” provisioning, in particular, allows users to set up a mobile station and to receive content through the mobile station's wireless interface. Over-the-air provisioning allows the user of a mobile station to acquire content without (for example) connecting the mobile station to a computer via a USB cable or other wired connection. Over-the-air provisioning is described in, for example, the WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) 2.0 Specification.